Exeter Hospital staff treated for scabies

Exposure to infected patient caused spread

EXETER — A total of 33 employees at Exeter Hospital have been treated for an infection caused by the scabies skin mite after they were exposed to a patient with the infection at the hospital, Debra Vasapolli, the director of public relations and development for the hospital, said Wednesday night.

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By Jeff McMenemy

seacoastonline.com

By Jeff McMenemy

Posted Oct. 3, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By Jeff McMenemy
Posted Oct. 3, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

EXETER — A total of 33 employees at Exeter Hospital have been treated for an infection caused by the scabies skin mite after they were exposed to a patient with the infection at the hospital, Debra Vasapolli, the director of public relations and development for the hospital, said Wednesday night.

She also said that no other patients have been diagnosed with the infection.

"However, in an abundance of caution, staff from the hospital's Infection Prevention Department have developed a list of patients who had even the slightest potential of exposure," Vasapolli said.

Those names are being sent to the patients' primary care physicians, who "will be reaching out directly to their own patients to provide education about their potential risk of exposure and to determine if the patient should receive preventative treatment," Vasapolli said.

In addition to the 33 employees who were treated for the infection, the hospital treated another 300 proactively "as a preventive measure," she said.

"Since Monday, only one additional employee has presented to staff health with symptoms, which means we have been successful in our efforts to prevent further transmission," Vasapolli said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines scabies as "an infestation of the skin by the human itch mite."

"The microscopic scabies mite burrows into the upper layer of the skin, where it lives and lays its eggs," according to the center's Web site. "The most common symptoms of scabies are intense itching and a pimple-like skin rash. The scabies mite usually is spread by direct, prolonged, skin-to-skin contact with a person who has scabies."

The news of the scabies infection comes just two days after the hospital announced it was laying off 28 full-time workers, reducing the hours of 17 other workers and leaving more than 30 open jobs unfilled to close an estimated $15 million deficit.

Vasapolli denied that the deficit had anything to do with the lawsuits filed last year after a hepatitis C outbreak at the hospital.